Bites: Fergus freshens up for autumn

They say good things come in threes, and so apparently do fresh licks of paint in London. St John, the nose-to-tail eating emporium run by Fergus Henderson in the shadow of Smithfield Market, re-opens tomorrow for the first time since 30 June after the old smokehouse was given a rub down and a generous new coat of white paint.

Over in Theatreland, J Sheekey, the fish restaurant with 19th-century ancestry now bankrolled by rag-trade millionaire Richard Caring, has just re-emerged after a spot of refurbishment, paving the way for the arrival of a new reservation-free, 30-seat oyster bar, come the autumn.

And Hammersmith's River Café, closed since a fire broke out in April, has been spruced up, and now looks set for a return to action in early September.

Meanwhile, up in Manchester, Yang Sing, the city's famous Cantonese destination since 1977, has just opened the Yang Sing Oriental hotel in what was once an old cotton warehouse in Chinatown.